


Swap Academy

by leafbox



Category: Valor Academy (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Body Horror, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, guess my comfort ship challenge /j, i have been thinking about this au nonstop for like weeks so i finally wrote about it, im so bad with tech, im so scared lmao, its not that bad so far tho, jesus christ you people need to write more va fics, swap au, this is my first time uploading on ao3 using a computer, wait who tf is quinn why is she in the tags /j, we have fun here at valor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:55:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28372734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafbox/pseuds/leafbox
Summary: Valor Academy. You've heard of it, haven't you? The newly opened school for heroes-to-be...I'm sure it's a little different than you remember it, though.A swap AU retelling in which all of the playbooks of the students at Valor Academy have been swapped around and, thus, other aspects too, like backstories and personalities.
Kudos: 1





	1. First Day

Valor Academy. The school for heroes-to-be. Even if you had a criminal history, if you were between the ages 14 and 17, and wanting to benefit society, they were willing to accept you.

That's what Voidling had told Suheyla, at least. She was sure she'd only gotten in because she was sponsored by him, and had agreed to go to therapy alongside schooling.

But now, as she stood before the steps of the school, she wasn't so sure about this.

Other students were starting to flood in. Maybe if she left now, nobody would notice she'd even been there in the first place, and she could just go home. That way, she wouldn't have to go through the nerve-wracking experience of all of her classmates asking if she really was the girl who'd knocked down that office building. She'd shaved her head recently, purely out of anxiety, so surely she was harder to recognize, but even then…

"Yeah, okay. I'll just. I'll just go," Suheyla thought aloud to herself. Just as she was about to turn around, she felt someone bump into her, paired with a gentle squeak. She turned to see a short girl, holding the robotic hand of a boy.

"Ah! Sorry! Didn't see you there!" She exclaimed, although she was still smiling wildly.

"Azumi, I told you to look where you were going…" the boy sighed.

Suheyla was sort of taken aback. The girl was eccentric-looking, for sure; she wore goggles on her head, glasses, and a goofy lab coat, almost like she was trying to prove something to someone.

The boy by her side was clearly a bit embarrassed by her odd behaviour, but he almost looked equally as weird; the tank top and basketball shorts he wore exposed intricate, high-tech mechanical limbs.

The boy looked at Suheyla. He opened his mouth, and a look of shock crossed his expression, but he closed his mouth before he said what he'd clearly wanted to say. He opened his mouth again.

"Sorry about my friend here, she's really excited," the boy apologized. "I really think we should go now."

His arm was already looped around the girl's, but he started pulling her away. She stood her ground.

She offered a hand to Suheyla.

"I'm Azumi Juco! This guy's Roland A Round," she smiled with a little giggle. Suheyla shook her hand, and did her best to hide the laugh.  _ Roland A Round. Poor guy. Probably never gets a job interview. _

"You're going to Valor too, right? Right?!" She exclaimed, jumping from one foot to the other. "You look suuuper cool! I hope we're in the same class! What's your name?!"

Suheyla nodded along, up until the question. She froze for a moment.

_ Oh, god, what if they'd heard her name on the news? What if they spread rumours about her at school? What if-- _

She couldn't just stand there and stay silent, and she didn't have the time to come up with a fake name. They'd probably find out the truth, anyway.

"Suheyla. Suheyla Yakin," she answered. She rubbed the back of her head, but quickly jumped. She wasn't yet used to the feeling of her hand meeting fuzz instead of the long hair she'd had before.

"Ohhhh, that's such a pretty name! It's nice to meet you!!" Azumi enthusiastically shook her hand up and down.

Roland tapped on Azumi's shoulder.

"We really should go, though. The opening assembly is starting soon."

"Oh! Right!"

Azumi started running up the steps, and into the front doors. But instead of just holding Roland's hand, she now also held Suheyla's.

****  
  


She's already in too deep, isn't she.

****♤♡◇♧****

The Head Mistress stepped up to the microphone. She looked out to the sea of students. They looked a mixture of anxious and excited, but all of them were extraordinary in one way or another. She knew this, and as she began to speak, she wanted to address it.

"Welcome, everyone, to the first day of Valor Academy. As our doors open, and all of you begin your school careers here, we only wish for all of you to succeed," her voice boomed throughout the auditorium. "I am the headmistress… Head Mistress."

A small laugh erupted throughout the student body. She'd expected that to happen. At the very least, it helped ease some tension.

She folded her hands on the podium, and she got a little tenser.

"We were hoping to have Pandora and Pele come in today, to give a word or two to encourage all of you, but…"

A big portion of the audience cringed, especially the hooded girl in the front row, and the horned student in the back.

"...despite the failures that have befallen other heroes- and other schools- we wish to surpass them. We only want safety for all of you. We assure that we will only do our best to make sure that none of you end up doing the same."

The Head Mistress was speaking vaguely, but everyone knew what happened. She didn't need to say it. And she didn't  _ want  _ to. After all, she'd been close to the both of them, so for something like that to happen, then…

"All of you are in your youth. We expect you- in fact, encourage you- to make mistakes. We want you to learn from them and improve. Even us, the staff, have done things wrong before, but as we continue into this school year, we want to do better. We hope you want the same for yourselves, despite things you've done in the past. If you're ever afraid, or need help, don't be afraid to ask for it."

"Thank you, and congratulations on getting into Valor Academy. I wish all of you the best. You may now head to class."

She left the podium, and began exiting. So did the students, already starting to flood out of the auditorium.

****♤♡◇♧****

Ms. Loftus yanked Kidd by his hand down the hall. It was a surprise it hadn't come off yet, with how hard she was pulling.

"Come on, Franky! We have to beat  _ rush hour _ ," she said, taking her keys off of her belt and starting to unlock her classroom door.

Ms. Loftus was a teacher and Franky Kidd, who towered over her, was a student. And, yet, he was a lot like a son to her; he lived with her and everything. He felt bad for it, but he mostly had no choice but to be dependent on her, with his lack of experience with the world.

As the door swung open, and Ms. Loftus turned the lights on, she noticed there was already a student inside.

"Oh! Um…" she looked between her clipboard and the purple student. "Cauchemar, yes?"

The demon nodded.

"Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm the teacher, Ms. Loftus, and this is Franky," she gestured to Kidd at her side. He gently waved.

"Your seat is there," Ms. Loftus pointed to a seat near the front, and Kidd moved to sit down.

While the teacher was preoccupied at her desk, Kidd watched Cauchemar with curiosity.

He'd spent a lot of his time alive either holed up inside, or assisting in battle. He'd already become a sensation online, but Ms. Loftus was the one managing all of his social media accounts, so in the end, he really didn't have much experience interacting with other people. Or  _ people-adjacent  _ things.

Watching Cauchemar, Kidd swore that for a moment he almost saw the demon warp and blip around in his seat. Before he could say anything, Cauchemar spoke up.

"Hello, Kidd! It's nice to meet you!" He smiled.

Kidd didn't smile back. He'd been told before that it looked weird, so he avoided it.

"U-Um, hi! You too!"

Another student began entering the classroom. She sort of dawdled anxiously around the door for a moment, before stepping in.

"Erm, hey! Is this Ms. Loftus' classroom?" She asked. A star-shaped mask covered the upper half of her face, and her long brown hair was tied into twintails.

Kidd nodded, since she seemed preoccupied and, on that signal, the girl stepped inside. She quickly found the desk with her name on it, and sat down.

The girl seemed to be  _ actively buzzing in her seat,  _ and she stared at Kidd, clearly wanting to say something. Maybe her intentions would be exposed if anyone were able to see her eyes, since they're supposedly the windows to the soul and all.

Cauchemar blinked in her direction. Before anyone could say anything to her, two more students stepped in.

A boy with brown hair, green eyes, and sporty clothing held a map of the school, likely given to him by an adult or staff member. A girl with small, deer-like horns and long black hair slightly floated above his right shoulder, looking at it with him.

"So, it's this room, right?" She said, batting her eyelashes.

"Yeah, unless the map  _ Benni  _ gave us before coming here is wrong," he replied. His voice dripped with hate and contempt when he spoke the name. "I wouldn't doubt it, honestly."

The girl floated inside. She tapped the tips of her fingers together.

"Ohhh, it looks so wonderful!" She smiled airily. Which was ironic, given the fact that she floated to the ceiling. When she noticed she was doing so, she did her best to ground herself.

Ms. Loftus turned to look at them.

"Oh! Jayce and Elpis, right? You're in the right place!" She smiled.

The brown haired boy nodded, and moved to sit down at his seat. When Kidd leaned over to look, he saw the name 'Jayce' on the desk, and quickly made the connection in his head of who's who.

Jayce absently played on his phone. It was sort of big and clunky- in general, cheap-looking. He seemed to struggle with it a bit, but was obviously shy about it and didn't want to let it show.

Elpis floated over to her own seat. She partially clipped through it, and after a moment of almost fighting with it, she managed to sit properly. Or, at least, the closest she could get right now.

The girl with the star mask seemed to visibly react at the presence of both Jayce and Elpis, quivering a bit. Both Kidd and Cauchemar weren't up to date with the news, and the teacher was already aware of their nature, so the masked girl struggled with the fact she seemed to be the only one afraid of them. Jayce noticed, but it wasn't like he cared. He was used to it by now.

Once again, before anyone could ask her anything, the door flew open with a flash. Everyone squinted and shrunk away with a flash like that, and Ms. Loftus almost seemed visibly irritated. When the light cleared out, a girl cartwheeled in.

She stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips. Her blonde and pink hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore jeans with a long-sleeved crop top. Besides a bit of flashy jewelry, she looked fairly ordinary.

"And thus, with a spotlight overhead, I arrive!" She exclaimed.

Nobody said anything. Jayce didn't look up from his phone. Cauchemar blipped and warped for a moment again, and Ms. Loftus coughed.

"Do… do none of you recognize me?" She laughed a bit anxiously.

The girl with the mask in the corner muttered something, and the girl in the ponytail pointed at her. Suddenly, the room went dark, and there was a spotlight on the masked girl. A small alarm in the corner of the room beeped, signalling the ponytail girl used her powers.

"No powers in class," Ms. Loftus scolded, crossing her arms. The girl shrugged sheepishly, and the spotlight vanished, before she turned back to the masked girl.

"Caaaaan you repeat that?"

"U-Um, Prestige! Y-You're Prestige, right? And your real name's Shiloh Priscea…" she squeaked. "I-I think I've read about you online."

The ponytail girl- Shiloh- clapped her hands. Confetti sprung forward out of nowhere. The alarm beeped again.

"Bravo, bravo! You got it right! You get, like, a brand new car or something, I dunno," she shrugged, and started moving toward her seat.

Before she got there, she whispered to the masked girl, although loud enough that everyone heard, "Can you tell me where you found that info about me later? I wanna know what they said."

Jayce's expression twitched a little, clearly irritated by all the noise. Ms. Loftus' eyebrows furrowed.

"Shiloh, I'm going to have to ask you to clean all this confetti up."

"Oh! Yeah, of course."

Shiloh stood back up and scampered back to the front of the class, starting to pick up all the confetti.

Two more students entered the classroom. They were both fairly quiet, and had sort of…  _ shocking?  _ appearances. One wore casual clothing, jeans and a hoodie, but also wore a helmet that covered their face.

By their side stood a slightly smaller kid. He tried to obscure himself, but it was easy to see his slightly warped body; it was almost like he was coming apart at the seams. He looked to wear a uniform of some kind, although it seemed to be loose, and adjusted to fit his body.

The student in the mask silently stepped inside, and began searching for their desk. The student in the uniform followed; the both of them ended up sitting next to each other, nearby Shiloh and the masked girl.

Nobody said much to them, as students began to chat with each other- Shiloh with the girl in the mask, Jayce with Elpis, Kidd with Cauchemar- but the three students who arrived next were already talking with one another.

Azumi still held Suheyla and Roland's hands, as if she was worried they'd run off. They already appeared to be mid-conversation when they entered.

"...and that's when I said, 'you must  _ really  _ suck at Mario Maker 2!'" Azumi exclaimed. Suheyla tried to laugh, but it honestly wasn't even that funny of a story. Roland didn't even attempt to; he's heard this story so many times.

Ms. Loftus waved to the three.

"Hi there! You can find your desk by looking for the one with your name on it," she explained with a smile.

Azumi nodded, finally letting go of Suheyla and Roland's hands to find her desk. Once found, she quickly hopped down in her seat. She waved at Suheyla.

"Hey, hey, Suheyla! C'mere, your seat's next to mine!" She called her over. She sadly turned to Roland, looking at the surrounding desks.

"Aww… yours isn't near me…"

Roland clicked his heels together, and wheels popped out of his feet. He skated across the classroom, and found his desk, sitting down. It was across the classroom from Azumi.

"It's fine, I--" he started speaking, but cut himself off, looking past Azumi. He saw Jayce sitting in his seat and began shaking. He gripped his desk,  _ hard,  _ in an attempt to stabilize himself, but it was barely working.

Shiloh, who sat next to him, raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, and continued her heartfelt conversation with the masked girl about tumblr blogs.

He'll have to have a chat with Azumi after class.

Another student walked into the classroom. She had a hood over her head, but it really didn't suit her, honestly, and what she intended to use it for- hiding her identity- really didn't work out. Everyone knew who she was instantly, and eyes slowly drifted between her and Elpis. The class went silent.

A couple months or so ago, Pele III- Leilani Kahananui- killed Pandora.

The two of them were famous heroes, both working for the better of humanity. Nobody knew why Pele had done it. Apparently she'd tried explaining herself, but none of the reasons were deemed believable. It didn't take much time for her to be put in a high-security prison.

It put Nalani Kahananui, her daughter, in a pretty rough spot. That didn't mean she wanted to give up and drop out of Valor Academy, not at all, so she was still here. But, even today, her eyes looked a little puffy, there were bags under her eyes, and her hair was a little messier than she would've liked for it to be.

Nalani's eyes moved over the classroom as she stepped in. Everyone was in awed silence at her presence. She followed everyone else's eyes, and looked at Elpis, causing her to freeze still.

For a moment, she looked like a deer in headlights. Then she turned to Ms. Loftus, and stood up straight.

"Ms. Loftus, may I speak with you privately? It's urgent," she spoke formally.

Hesitantly, Ms. Loftus nodded, standing up to follow her into the hall.

The intent  _ was  _ to speak privately, but immediately, Shiloh stood up to listen at the door. She gestured to Elpis, encouraging her to get closer so she could hear, too; it was likely about her, after all.

Nalani stood straight, seriously addressing the teacher.

"I can't be in that classroom. Are you aware that… that…" she stuttered, faltering.

"...Are you talking about Elpis' similarities to Pandora?" Ms. Loftus clarified. She found it difficult to say, too. Nalani nodded.

"Is there any way for you to let me change classes? I know I'm not aware of the full situation, and I feel rude making a rash decision like this, but I can't be in a class with someone like her in it," the girl explained.

Ms. Loftus looked down, thinking. She needed to choose her words carefully.

"I'm not allowed to… have a bias, in a situation like this. I'm not aware of the full situation either, but… I've been told that Elpis and Pandora are not the same," she answered. "She's sort of like, say… an… offshoot of her? Almost like a daughter."

Nalani balled her hands into fists. She wasn't angry, she just needed to steady herself.

"That doesn't make it much better. Please, allow me to change classes."

Ms. Loftus shut her eyes and sighed.

"I can talk to the other staff about it, but for now, you'll have to stay in this class. I'm sorry, Nalani," she replied.

Nalani looked down. She didn't nod, or reply, but began quietly walking back into the classroom.

Shiloh rushed back to her seat, and Elpis did the same. They were lucky Nalani was just looking at her own shoes, or she would've seen them.

As Nalani found her seat- luckily, far away from Elpis'- two more students arrived. They arrived at the same time, but they didn't seem to even know each other. One girl had a green hoodie and ginger hair, and the other had big poofy hair tied back in a ponytail, and star earrings.

"Umm… yo!" The poofy-haired girl exclaimed. People had resumed chatting by now, so they didn't seem to acknowledge her. She seemed almost thankful for that.

The ginger haired girl cocked an eyebrow. "Lame."

The girl with poofy hair frowned, and her hands dropped to her sides. The both of them found their seats, as the bell rang.

****♤♡◇♧****

Ms. Loftus stood up, and got to the front of the class, clipboard in hand. She looked out at the class and its many students. Her eyebrows furrowed with worry at the one empty seat, but she'd acknowledge that later.

She clapped her hands together to get everyone's attention.

"Okay, everybody! Since it's the first day, we're just going to do some simple introductions. You can tell us a bit about yourself, and your powers! Would anyone like to go first?"

Azumi immediately raised her hand, and Ms. Loftus nodded to her.

As Azumi stood up, she pulled Suheyla with her, and gestured Roland over. Now, the three stood at the front.

"Hihihihi! I'm Azumi Juco! Uhhh, we give hero names too, right? Mine's Unity!" She beamed and gave double peace signs, hopping from one foot to the other with excitement. "Ummm, my power… well, I'm uber smart, I guess? Ohoh! And I can do magic!"

She grabbed Roland's leg, making him almost fall.

"I made all the limbs he's got! I gave him cool stuff like built-in heelies! They're uber rad!"

Roland wrestled his leg back, barely managing to stand.

"The sooner I introduce myself, the sooner I can sit back down, so… hey. I'm Roland Alexander Round, or Progress. Azumi already said it… if you can't tell, I've got these prosthetics," he said, raising his arm. Part of the class seemed to jump back, almost looking scared that he would shoot off a laser with his hand or something. He dropped his arm back to his side, before moving to sit back down, shooting Jayce a nasty glare on the way.

Suheyla stood about, shaking a little.

"Oh, uh, my turn, yeah? Uhh, Suheyla Yakin, that's me," she pointed to her chest.

She quickly started walking back to her desk. Azumi pulled her back.

"Suheylaaaa! You're supposed to talk about your powers and stuff too! I'm really curious!!" She exclaimed in an almost whiny fashion.

Suheyla blinked.

"Uh, the- I'm… Dark Star."

The class was dead silent. Something clicked for a couple people.

"My power, uh… it's- hard to explain, but I can, like… make myself heavier sometimes? It's- it's mostly good for smashing things, which is probably what you know me for, ahaha…"

_ Oh god she's just digging her grave deeper. _

Shiloh raised her hand. "Hey! Aren't you the girl that killed all those people in that office building?"

Suheyla tensed up. Azumi turned to look at her, almost a bit confused.

Ms. Loftus stepped forward.

"Umm, that's all, for now! Suheyla, Azumi, you may sit down now." The two of them did so.

"Shiloh, since you seem so  _ eager,  _ how about you go next?"

Shiloh shrugged, and stood. "Yeah, I can deal."

She made her way to the front before doing a stage bow in front of everyone.

"Heyy! I'm Shiloh Priscrea, AKA Prestige!" She smiled. Out of nowhere, she pulled a baton, and began twirling it around tossing it. "I feel like my power's easier to  _ show _ than  _ explain--" _

"No powers in class, Shiloh."

"Okay, okay…! Geez. I can do all kinds of cool tricks, beyond just normal stage stuff!"

She placed a hand on her hip. The baton sparkled before disappearing. The small alarm gently beeped again.

"That's that on me!" She skipped back to her seat.

Ms. Loftus looked out at the class. "Is anyone wanting to go next?"

Silence.

More silence.

Cannot stress how much silence there is.

"...okay! Then, I'll just pick at random. Uhmmm… you there!" She pointed at the girl with the star mask. The girl jumped, looking a bit startled; the entire time everyone had been introducing themselves, she'd been aggressively taking notes on them and their powers. It was likely she would post about it to her blog later. She got up and made her way to the front.

Nervously, she struck a flashy pose.

"Erm… I'm… Hoshiko! I'd like to not just help people become a beloved idol, but, um… be friends with all of you!" She tried her best to smile. She stopped posing, and stood normally. "Ah! My power, uhh… I can take away the gravity of objects! I, uh, can't demonstrate, so I hope you get it!"

Looking a little prouder of herself than she did before, she went to sit back down.

Ms. Loftus looked out at the class again. Her eyes landed on Kidd, and she lightly clapped her hands together, visibly excited. "Oh! Kidd, how about you? Why don't you go next?"

Kidd blinked a couple times, before standing up and moving to the front.

"Umm… um, I…" he started speaking, but was seeming to have trouble with his words. He looked to Loftus for help, but tried to continue, gently playing with the bottom of his shirt. "I'm Franky the Kidd. You can just call me Franky. I, uhh… I can take my head off and stuff?"

After her confidence boost, Hoshiko finally seemed to be able to ask the question bouncing around in her head.

"Are you- are you  _ the  _ Franky? Like, the one who defeated that bull supervillain a couple weeks ago?! I'm a huge fan!" She exclaimed. She was clearly  _ super  _ into heroes and the community surrounding them.

Other students chatted excitedly as well; they also knew of the incident, and the thought of having  _ several  _ famous heroes in their midst was a wonderful thought.

Kidd nodded.

"Umm, yes, that's me. Thank you for supporting me…!" He answered. The class' chattering got even louder, and Kidd was clearly a little overwhelmed, so Loftus sent him back to his seat, and shushed the class.

In the midst of the noise, a boy anxiously started to walk in.

Ms. Loftus turned to him. "Ethan, right? You're  _ very  _ late."

The boy- Ethan- looked startled. His hands were shaking, and he was avoiding eye contact. He struggled with his words for a moment. "I, um, lost."

He paused, realizing that wasn't what he'd intended to say.

"I-I got lost. I'm sorry."

Ms. Loftus sighed, uncrossing her arms and tiredly placing it on her hip. "Since you're already at the front, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Ethan looked surprised again, but slowly began to nod and face the class. He's trying his best here!

"I'm… Ethan Velez. My hero name is Echo. My power is to copy powers," he stated simply. He glanced at Ms. Loftus, as if checking with her that that was okay, before moving to sit down at the one empty seat left.

Ms. Loftus cocked an eyebrow, sort of saying  _ 'That's all?' _ but she eventually just shrugged and looked back at the class.

She pointed to the kid in the mask and hoodie. "How about you go next?"

The masked kid slowly shuffled to the front. It was noticeable as they began speaking that they had a voice modifier, making their voice sound deep, slow, and slightly warped.

"I'm… Sam. Sam Goldsmith. My hero name is Panicea, and I have the ability to shapeshift into people's greatest fear," they said. The class was mostly silent. "Um… use they/them for me, please. Thank you."

Sam slowly started moving back to their seat, and as they reached it, they leaned over to whisper to the uniformed student.

"M-Me? Are you sure?" He clarified. He wasn't good at expressing his emotions on his face, but he clearly seemed worried. Sam nodded.

Ms. Loftus cocked her head to the side. "Would you like to go next?"

The kid in the uniform looked between Sam and Ms. Loftus a couple times, before nodding and getting up.

"H-Hello…! I'm… Ozy! Ozy Palomer, AKA Plastake," they stuttered. They were clearly trying their best.

It was hard to notice with how much they shrunk away before, but standing up there now, all the classmates noticed the way none of him looked quite right; eyes were sort of wide and peering, sharp teeth jutted out of his mouth, hair didn't really  _ seem  _ like hair, but instead a poor imitation of it. He noticed everyone's analytical eyes, and tried to continue.

"My p-power is… I can… shapeshift, but, I'm not very good at it, so…" they twiddled wobbly, misshapen hands. They looked back up.

"Oh! I, um, almost forgot."

They pointed to their uniform.

"I, um, work with AEGIS. I'm a new recruit, but I represent them at Valor Academy, so I'd like to… do my very best."

He blinked a couple times before going back to his seat. Sam gave him an approving nod, which made him smile.

Ms. Loftus gently clapped, and smiled back at Ozy.

She gazed out at the class. She briefly met eyes with Nalani.

"Elpis, why don't you go next?"

Elpis blinked a couple times. She'd been zoning out pretty hard, which was pretty apparent with the way she'd slowly been floating out of her seat.

"Oh! Yes, of course!"

Elpis floated to the front of the class. Nalani sunk lower in her chair, and pulled her hood over her face.

"Hello! I'm Elpis," she stated. As she hovered slightly above the ground, her dress floated slightly. It almost looked like under her skirt was  _ stuffed  _ with flowers, but they came from nowhere. A few stray petals landed on the floor, but after a few moments, promptly disappeared.

"Things are… a little complicated! But I'm doing my best. I don't really…  _ have  _ a hero name. I'm just Elpis!"

She smiled innocently.

"But, as for my powers… I suppose I… can control some aspects of the seasons? I don't completely understand it."

Nobody seemed to be willing to say what they were thinking. Elpis didn't seem to mind; she smiled airily, before looking to Jayce. "Oh! Jayce, Jayce! Why don't you go next?"

His eyes seemed to widen for a moment, their soft glow slightly noticeable. "Uh, okay? Sure."

Jayce stood at the front. He blinked at Elpis a couple of times, who was still standing there.

After a couple moments, she squeaked, "Oh, right! I can sit back down now!"

She quickly moved to her desk, as Jayce began speaking.

"I'm, uh, Jayce Rogers? Or… Distortion, I guess," he shrugged, not making eye contact with everybody. "I've kinda got… magic." His fingers hovered over his chest.

He wore fairly sporty clothing, but at MeRit's request, he also wore a windbreaker to hide the green artifact embedded in his chest. It was for his safety, they claimed. Not like he was in any position to refuse.

"Why are there so many  _ murderers  _ in our class?" Roland called from the back of the class. He was mostly just thinking aloud, but it was rude and loud to the point everyone heard.

Jayce furrowed his eyebrows, and Ms. Loftus opened her mouth. Jayce interrupted her.

"What do you mean by  _ that? _ " He asked.

Roland didn't address Jayce, but made direct eye contact with Ms. Loftus.

"Like, first we got Suheyla." She winced. "It wasn't even that long ago that she knocked down that office building, killing and hurting a ton of people in the process. Elpis and Nalani are in the same class, which I  _ really doubt  _ was a good decision. And," he finally looked at the green-eyed boy, "Jayce destroyed half of Halcyon city."

Ms. Loftus sighed; not in the gentle way she usually did, but angry and tired. "Roland, we can talk after class."

Azumi looked back at Roland. She did her best to understand how others felt, but it was hard when they did stuff like  _ this. _ By the way she looked at him, it was easy to tell she'd be wanting to talk to him about it, too.

Jayce glared at Roland, and he glared back, but eventually he moved to sit down.

The teacher looked out at the students, quickly looking for a distraction of some kind. She pointed at the poofy-haired girl.

"Ah, here, why don't you go next?"

The girl blinked a couple times, before jumping up from her desk. A couple of people swore they almost saw her disappear for a second, and the alarm gave a telltale beep.

She crossed her arms at the front of the room. She was doing her  _ very best  _ to look tough, and it was difficult to say that it was  _ working,  _ exactly.

"Um… 'sup! I'm Celeste Romero!" She called out in front of everyone. "My hero name's Gacha! Don't forget it!"

She looked between everyone.

"My power… ah…"

She didn't want to just straight-up say it was  _ lame. _

"...let's just say it'll be a surprise… for the both of us!"

She tried to give a toothy grin, before making her way back to her desk. Shiloh stifled a laugh at Celeste's eccentric behaviour.

"...god that was so lame," the green-hooded girl muttered. She stood up. "I'm going now. The sooner I go, the sooner it's done with."

Roland grumbled. That's basically what he said earlier.

The girl stood at the front of class. She played with her hair for a moment.

"Emilia McDougal. That's my name. Orrrrrrr you can call me by my hero name, Dullaha, but I think that's sort of a weird thing to do if we're not in battle," she shrugged.

She reached behind her back, and pointed to a sheathed sword.

"I've got a cursed sword. Simple. My dad's teaching me to use it, but he thought coming to Valor'd help too."

She slowly moved to sit back down. When she got back, she playfully stuck her tongue out at Celeste, as if teasing her for having a lamer introduction. By the loud gasp Celeste let out, it was easy to tell she was the only one who noticed… or cared.

Ms. Loftus made eye contact with Nalani again. The both of them nodded each other as Nalani made her way to the front of the room.

"Um… aloha," Nalani said, looking at her feet. "I'm… sure I'm a familiar face. I'm Nalani Kahananui, or… uh… Pele IV. I suppose most of you already know that I also have magma powers. Ah…"

She paused for a moment, her hand on her chin as she tried to think if she had anything else to say.

"Despite… circumstances, I want to do my best. Not just as a classmate, but a friend, so… if you have any concerns, you can talk to me!" She looked back at everyone, smiling for the first time today.

Although, it was fake.

_ Fake it till you make it, right? _

Nalani sat down again, and Ms. Loftus looked expectantly at Cauchemar. He was the only one who hadn't introduced himself.

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh! Me! Right."

He didn't leave his seat. Instead, he spoke obnoxiously loud, just to make sure everybody heard.

"My name is Cauchemar! Hello!"

Kidd cocked his head to the side with curiosity.

"...is that it?" The teacher asked. Cauchemar thought for a moment more, before nodding.

He's he. That's all.

Ms. Loftus cleared her throat, before clapping her hands together.

She looked at each student. There was unrest in everyone's eyes, for one reason or another, and she felt the feeling carry over to herself. Still, she wanted to do her best, just like they did. And just like she was expected to.

"Well then… welcome to class, everyone!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi! Its bee! or sylvie or flux or the 20 other names I go by. I pressed a button on my computer so now all my apostrophes look like this è and idk how to undo it so no apostrophes for now. all of ch1 was written in a google doc on my phone cus im scared of computers. no seriously how do I get my apostrophes back èèèèèè PLEASEEÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈÈ È' wait I got it back there we go!!! :oD anyway in the google doc version of ch1, there was special art of Suheyla, azumi, and roland, but i cant figure out how to get it on ao3 and im tired and im only using a computer cus theres no tag for most characters yet and AUUUGH THIS IS ALL SO HARD can you tell I stayed up till 3am, woke up at 8am, and forgot to take my meds????? um anyway enjoy chapter 1, I hope I get better at posting things by the time chapter 2 is ready to be posted. I draw designs of the characters in the au nonstop cus I think about it so often so I hope you join the surpriseroundrpg discord server to see them HOLY FUCK MY CHRIOMEBOOK JUST DIED BC I FORGOT TO PLUG IT IN its ok cus I didn't lose my progress on this. lol have a nice day


	2. Lunchtime!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After an uneventful class, it's time for lunch!

Class wasn’t very eventful- not including the introductions, and the occasional glares that Roland threw Jayce’s way- despite being the first day. It was mostly Ms. Loftus telling them what they’d be learning this year, before beginning the basics of their ethics course. It seemed to be easy for everyone except Kidd and Ethan. And Cauchemar, I guess, but mostly only because he’d actually eaten half of his textbook, and he had to share with someone else until he got a new one.

Once the bell rang for lunch, basically everyone clambered out of their seats and flooded out the doors. Ethan dawdled for a moment, simply out of confusion, but he quickly followed suit.

Once out the door, Azumi quickly yanked Roland to the side. The both of them stood in front of lockers, a bit farther from everyone else, to speak.

“Roland… what  _ was  _ that? Why did you treat Jayce like that?” Azumi asked, her eyebrows furrowing. She stomped her foot lightly, but quickly regretted it, realizing how childish it was. She tucked one foot behind the other. “He, and the others, deserve a second chance, just like you.”

Roland’s expression softened in her presence. He didn’t want to get upset at her, but his nose involuntarily wrinkled at the mention of Jayce. He sighed.

“I thought that at least  _ you’d  _ remember him. I don’t know why everyone else seems so  _ fine  _ with him going here.”

Azumi thought for a moment.

That was right. She remembered now. If anything, she remembered more than Roland did.

That day, she’d been at the alien park with her mom and dad. It wasn’t too long ago, maybe a year or two, she didn’t remember the exact date.

There was so much blood. So much destruction. It was a miracle that both her and her parents had made it out alive. In fact, most people there didn’t, at least not without an injury of some kind.

“...that’s right. Distortion. The Green incident,” she muttered. She looked at her shoes.

Roland nodded back.

“I don’t know what his deal is, or  _ how  _ he’s even here, but I’m just being cautious. I don’t want you, me, or anyone else dying or getting hurt because of him,” he explained, putting a hand in his pocket.

Using his other hand, he took Azumi’s hand, and she made eye contact with him.

“I care about you.”

He quickly let go, and turned away, his face turning red.  _ Shit, shit, shit, that was way too weird, wasn’t it… god damnit, why’s he so bad at this… _

Azumi giggled, softly smiling. It wavered, only for a fraction of a second, before she took his hand again, and took him away to get lunch.

****♤♡◇♧****

Jayce walked into the cafeteria. Surprisingly, he’d finally put his phone down, but mostly because he was distracted by something else.

He stared, almost absentmindedly, as he watched Ethan lag behind everyone else.

“Has Ethan caught your eye?”

Jayce jumped, startled, and spun around to see Elpis, floating behind him. Her hands were coupled and she held them around her chest. It was a habit of hers.

“Oh… you surprised me,” Jayce sighed, exhaling a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Oh, apologies! I’m told I do that often,” she frowned, but her smile quickly returned. “Anyway, don’t you agree? Isn’t Ethan interesting? Maybe it’s just because he was late, but…”

The boy looked over at Ethan again. By now, he’d sat down and pulled out of his backpack… god, is that a jug of milk? What the hell?

“...uh… yeah, I guess you could say that?”

“Well, maybe we should go talk to him, then…!” Elpis smiled, and  _ attempted  _ to grab Jayce’s hand. Hers went right through his, and the two laughed for a moment.

The two were pretty close friends by now. Though, maybe it was because they were the closest ones to qualifying as  _ human,  _ let alone good conversation partners, in their section of MeRit.

“I still think we should go talk to him!” Elpis puffed her cheeks out. Her ghostly form was funny sometimes, sure, but it was definitely a bother.

“Yeah, yeah, sure, let’s go, c’mon.”

The two approached Ethan, who was sitting next to Emilia. The two were already mid-conversation.

“...so you’re telling me you don’t know how many planets there are?”

“No, I don’t. It wasn’t as important as other stuff,” Ethan answered.

“That’s… pretty basic information, though?” Emilia squinted at him, leaning back a little in her seat.

The ginger-haired girl noticed the other two’s approach. After a moment’s hesitation, and avoidance of eye contact, she stood up. “We can talk about this later. I gotta, uuhhhhh, use the bathroom.”

Promptly, she left the table and walked in the direction of the bathrooms. Probably. This is the first day, no one’s got the place memorized.

Elpis watched as Emilia left, eyebrows furrowing with worry, while Jayce sat down, paying her no mind. He was used to it by now.

“Uh… hello!” Ethan waved. He was a little awkward, as he began to take his lunch out of his backpack. “Um… Jayce and Elpis, right? Did I say it right?”

“Yes, you got them right! I would give you a gold star for ‘good job’ if I could!” Elpis smiled and enthusiastically clapped her hands together. It produced no sound, but she almost acted like if she were to try hard enough, it finally would. Ethan beamed at the approval.

“Hey,” Jayce nodded in Ethan’s direction. The boy blinked a couple times, looked around to see if the gesture was towards anyone else, before mimicking the action. Jayce laughed lightly and, awkwardly, Ethan mimicked that, too.

Elpis did her best to sit. Her legs went through the seat, and in an attempt to pull herself up, her arms went through the table. She eventually gave up, and floated above the table.

“So, uhh… what do you have for lunch today, Ethan?” Jayce asked. He was being awkward, of course- all three of them were, actually, this interaction is hell- but even then, the last thing he wanted was to sound like a condescending adult. That is, somehow, what came out of his mouth anyway. But Ethan didn’t seem to notice.

“I have chicken,” he answered plainly. The chicken looked…  _ bland.  _ And gross. It didn’t look like he’d put any spices on it. Jesus christ. “I made it this morning.”

Jayce cocked an eyebrow. “That doesn’t look very- y’know what, okay.” He already seemed a little…  _ defeated.  _ He’d barely interacted with Ethan, and he was already ready to not address this ever again. He hadn’t even mentioned the jug of milk he’d seen the boy chugging, and he didn’t think he’d ever be mentally prepared to.

“Ethan! I heard you don’t know how many planets there are! Why’s that?” Elpis piped up, cocking her head to the side.

Ethan stuttered for a moment, a little flustered. It seemed for a moment as if he was trying to remember something.

“I-I was homeschooled!” He exclaimed. “I, um, was really busy as a kid, with training, so I was homeschooled, and I only learned the most important stuff, like math, and hand-to-hand combat.”

Jayce cocked an eyebrow. “Really? You learned how to fight, but not basic stuff like that?”

Ethan was visibly panicking. The other things he seemed to be able to find an answer for, but this…

Jayce reached across the table, and put his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it.” The boy calmed down, his breath slowing.

“Oh! I have played video games before, though, if you like those!” he smiled.

“Um… what’s, a ‘video game’?” The ghostly girl asked.

****♤♡◇♧****

Suheyla entered the cafeteria, marveling at just how  _ loud  _ and  _ crowded  _ it was. Well, less marveled, and more so stressed about it. She stalled for a moment, before getting in line to get lunch.

Once she acquired the horrible, low quality pizza, she sat down with Azumi.

Azumi brought two sandwiches. She handed one off to Roland, who seemed a little embarrassed that she'd brought him a lunch.

Suheyla, already out of conversation topics before one had even started, started shoving pizza into her mouth.

"Uhhh… Azumi, I wanted to ask," she glanced over at the other girl, and gestured to her. She spoke even though her mouth was still full; not like it totally matters. "Why d'you wear those goggles and that outfit and stuff? Is it, like, part of your powers, or…?"

Azumi blinked a couple times, taking a sip of a juice box she'd brought.

"Huh? Ohh!" She smiled. "It's 'cause it makes me look smarter!"

There was stunned silence from Suheyla. Roland shrugged, taking a bite of sandwich; he knew this already.

"Everybody tends to think I'm stupid in  _ every  _ way, just 'cause I'm stupid in  _ one  _ way. So I wear this to look smarter!" She happily answered. Roland gave her a stern look when she called herself stupid, but she didn't notice. She took her glasses off. "I don't even need these! I can see perfectly fine without them. I'm only fine with telling you this because I'm sure you already know that I'm a genius!"

Suheyla nodded.

"I mean, I really don't care about appearances. I guess glasses  _ do  _ make you look like a bit more of a nerd, but I'd still think of you like that anyway," she replied. Azumi seemed visibly pleased, and she clapped her hands together.

****♤♡◇♧****

The alarm in the cafeteria briefly beeped. Voidling, who had been standing off to the side, watching over the students, stepped forward. "Alright, who did it? Who used their powers?"

Nobody volunteered. Whoever had done it likely wasn't in the room anymore.

That's when a shout was heard down the hall, from the girls' bathroom. Emilia ran out, screaming.

It looked like someone had dumped  _ glitter  _ on her head.

"Auuugh, what the hell! This shit's  _ impossible  _ to get rid of!" She grunted with frustration, trying to brush off as much as possible. "Who did this?!"

Voidling didn't bother correcting her on her cursing. Instead, he looked at the students again. It was certain that if he had proper eyes, that he would be glaring daggers at them.

Around the corner, in the hall and unbeknownst to anyone, Celeste chuckled to herself. " _ Hehehehe… let the prank war begin. _ "

Kidd, who had just exited the nurse's office, blinked at her. She blinked back.

"Is that why Emilia was yelling?" Kidd asked, cocking his head to the side.

"U-Um-- don't tell anyone that I did that, okay? Or I'll get in huge trouble!" Celeste sort of panicked, pulling at and playing with her own hair.

"Okay! I  _ won't  _ tell anyone you're the one who played a prank on Emilia, then!" Kidd smiled, speaking perhaps a little too loudly, and Celeste sighed in relief.

Quill- the school nurse- sort of just… stared at the two. They'd been giving Kidd a check-up, so now they stood in the doorway.

"I can… I can hear the both of you, you know. I'll be sending you to detention, Celeste."

The girl groaned. "Auuuugh! I'm gonna have to miss work and my parents'll be mad and…"

Kidd patted her on the back. "It's okay, Celeste! You wanna be cool, right? Well in all the TV shows I watch, the cool kids get sent to detention!"

She sighed, standing up straight again and wiping small tears from her eyes.

"Honestly, that doesn't help very much, Kidd, but thank you, I guess," she replied. A small smile played upon her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its 9pm right now and im having a sugar crash *dies*  
> Anyway im sorry for the shorter chapter! <:o] i think chapter 3 should be a bit longer...but i hope u enjoy some of the things hinted at in this chapter ;o] i really enjoy hearing theories so feel free to hmu!!


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